Law Commission of England Consultation on Misconduct in Public Office

"Misconduct in public office is a common law offence: it is not
defined in any statute. It carries a maximum sentence of life
imprisonment. The offence requires that: a public officer acting as
such; wilfully neglects to perform his duty and/or wilfully misconducts
himself; to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust
in the office holder; without reasonable excuse or justification. "

"Historically the offence held public officers to account for their
misconduct, where there were no other adequate ways of doing so.
Nowadays such misconduct will usually amount to another, narrower and
better defined, criminal offence."

"The offence is widely considered to be ill-defined and has been
subject to recent criticism by the government, the Court of Appeal, the
press and legal academics."

(...)

"We have identified a number of problems with the offence:

'Public office' lacks clear definition yet is a critical element of
the offence. This ambiguity generates significant difficulties in
interpreting and applying the offence.

The types of duty that may qualify someone to be a public office
holder are ill-defined. Whether it is essential to prove a breach of
those particular duties is also unclear from the case law.

An 'abuse of the public’s trust' is crucial in acting as a threshold
element of the offence, but is so vague that it is difficult for
investigators, prosecutors and juries to apply.

The fault element that must be proved for the offence differs
depending on the circumstances. That is an unusual and unprincipled
position.

Although 'without reasonable excuse or justification' appears as an
element of the offence, it is unclear whether it operates as a free
standing defence or as a definitional element of the offence."

Appendix F of the consultation document contains international comparisons that outline the situation in Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Scotland and a number of Caribbean countries.

"It addresses a wide range of questions concerning two related matters. The first is whether the supervisory and enforcement powers of the State’s main financial and economic regulators are adequate or need to be supplemented by, for example, civil financial sanctions and more effective co-ordination between regulators. The second is whether there are gaps in the criminal law that do not deal sufficiently with serious wrongdoing by corporate bodies, in particular regarding current fraud legislation and the general rules for attributing criminal liability to corporate bodies."

"The broad context for this Issues Paper can be traced to the financial and economic collapse that emerged in 2008. A number of studies discussed below have identified failings in regulatory supervision and enforcement in the years preceding the collapse. The close relationship between regulatory law and criminal law also brings into focus the effectiveness of existing criminal offences and the ways in which they might affect how companies behave and are regulated. Significant reforms to both the regulatory framework and criminal law have been enacted since 2008 but important areas remain to be addressed. This Issues Paper identifies a number of these on which the Commission now seeks views. Many of these can be linked to the financial and economic collapse of 2008, but a number potentially have a wider application beyond financial regulation, including those concerning fraud offences and the attribution of criminal liability to corporate bodies. To that extent, this Issues Paper addresses future risks as well as risks already identified as arising from the financial collapse of recent year."

The report examines how other jurisdictions like the UK, Australia and the US handle issues such as the enforcement powers of financial and economic regulators, the use of negotiated compliance agreements to avoid prosecution, cooperation between regulators, corporate fraud, "reckless trading", etc.

Canadian Library Association Votes to Dissolve and Make Way for New Library Federation

Yesteerday, the membership of the Canadian Library
Association (CLA) voted on a proposal to dissolve the CLA and
replace it with a federation consisting of library associations from
across the country. The CLA proposal was released last December.

"The dissolution of CLA follows an extensive process during which CLA worked with a large number of
library associations across Canada to develop a proposal to advance the interests of libraries. The
proposed Canadian Federation of Library Associations [link] unifies the diverse library communities
across Canada. CLA’s membership took this decision with a view to the future. Changing times and a
proliferation of other library associations has seen a decline in CLA membership resulting in
challenges in sustaining an effective organization. It was clearly time to reconsider the viability of the
organization. The Executive Committee unanimously supported the motion to dissolve CLA in order
to enable the creation of a new national federation. Over the next few months CLA will undertake the
normal requirements to wind down an organization and pave the way for the Federation."

"While the demise of CLA is regrettable, the rise of the Federation as a new and more effective voice
for Canada’s libraries is a reason to celebrate."

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Library of Parliament's HillNotes Back for 42nd Parliament

"Readers can expect analyses and concise articles on topics ranging
from Canada’s supply management regimes to trade negotiations, health
care, changing demographic landscape, our role in international affairs
and our evolving telecommunications industry, to name but a few." (...)

"HillNotes builds upon the Library of Parliament’s tradition of
high-quality and non-partisan research and information services to
parliamentarians and committees of the Senate and House of Commons.
These posts will continue to match the same high standards of the many
other informational resources offered by the Library."

Quebec Legal Info Service CAIJ Adds New Annotated Code of Civil Procedure (January 21, 2016): "CAIJ, the Centre d'accès à l'information juridique (the network of courthouse law libraries associated with the Québec Bar Association), has recently added an annotated version of the province's new Code of Civil Procedure (...). It includes the text of the Code, a list of changes in legal terminology, a concordance between the new and old Codes, background commentaries for each section from the provincial Ministry of Justice, links to related regulations, links to related research questions answered by the CAIJ libraries, as well as links to debates in the Québec National Assembly and positions adopted by the Québec Bar Association."

Canadian Association of Law Libraries Diana M. Priestly Memorial Scholarship Deadline February 1st

"Established in honour of the late Diana M. Priestly, a distinguished Canadian law librarian, and in recognition of her distinctive contribution to Law Librarianship, the Scholarship is intended to support professional development in the field and is awarded to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant:

who has previous law library experience and will be enrolled in an accredited Canadian Library School during the next academic term/year; or

who has a degree from or is currently enrolled in an accredited Canadian Library School and will be enrolled in an approved Canadian Law School during the next academic term/year; or

who has a degree from or is currently enrolled in an approved Canadian Law School and will be enrolled in an accredited Canadian Library School during the next academic term/year; or

who will be concurrently enrolled in an approved Canadian Law School and an accredited Canadian Library School during the next academic term/year. "

CALL Survey on New Federation of Library Associations

This Wednesday, January 27, 2016, the membership of the Canadian Library Association (CLA) will be voting on a proposal to dissolve the CLA and replace it with a federation consisting of library associations from across the country. The CLA proposal was released last December.

The Board of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) has created an informal survey to initiate discussion with its members about its possible involvement with a new federation.

CALL has been invited as a Stakeholder Representative to CLA's Special Meeting on the 27th.

The CALL survey will close at 12 midnight ET on Friday, January 29, 2016. Results will be shared with CALL members after they are compiled.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Statistics Canada Report on Family Violence

"Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile is an annual
report produced by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics under the
Federal Family Violence Initiative. Since 1998, this annual report has
provided the most current data on the nature and extent of family
violence in Canada, as well as trends over time, and has been used to
monitor changes that inform policy makers and the public (...)"

"This year’s report also features an in-depth analysis of self-reported incidents of spousal violence, using data from the 2014 General Social Survey on victimization. This featured section examines the nature and prevalence of self-reported spousal violence in Canada. The analysis examines rates of spousal violence from 2004 to 2014, and because the information provided in this section is collected from individuals (self-reported), it includes incidents that were reported to police as well as those that were not. The featured section also provides analysis of the socio-demographic risk factors linked to spousal violence, the impacts and consequences for victims and the police reporting behaviour of victims."

Among the highlights:

In 2014, 4% of Canadians in the provinces with a
current or former spouse or common-law partner reported having been
physically or sexually abused by their spouse during the preceding 5
years, according to the General Social Survey (GSS) on victimization.
This represents a drop from a decade earlier, when 7% of respondents
reported experiencing spousal violence.

In 2014, equal proportions of men and women
reported being victims of spousal violence during the preceding 5 years
(4%, respectively). This translated into about 342,000 women and
418,000 men across the provinces. Similar declines in spousal violence
were recorded for both sexes since 2004.

According to the 2014 GSS,
the most commonly-reported type of spousal violence experienced was
being pushed, grabbed, shoved or slapped (35%). A quarter of victims
(25%) reported having been sexually assaulted, beaten, choked, or
threatened with a gun or a knife. A similar proportion (24%) reported
having been kicked, bit, hit, or hit with something. As in previous
years, women reported the most severe types of spousal violence more
often than men.

Among victims of spousal sexual assault, over
half (59%) reported non-consensual sexual activity that came as a
result of being manipulated, drugged, or otherwise coerced, sometimes
in combination with sexual assault through physical force.

Just under one-third (31%) of spousal
violence victims in the provinces reported sustaining physical injuries
as a result of the violence. Women were proportionally more likely
than men to have reported physical injuries, with 4 out of 10 (40%)
female victims reporting injuries compared to just under a quarter
(24%) of male victims.

Results from the 2014 GSS
indicate that psychological effects consistent with Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) are fairly common among spousal violence
victims, with about 16% of victims reporting three or more of the long
term effects associated with PTSD. Female victims were more likely (22%) to report these effects than male victims (9%).

For the majority of spousal violence victims,
the police were never made aware of the abuse (70%). Male victims were
more likely to state that the spousal violence had not been brought to
the attention of police (76%) than female victims (64%). When police
had been made aware of spousal violence, most victims reported that they
were satisfied with police response (65%).

Findings from the 2014 GSS
indicate there may be a relationship between abuse during childhood
and spousal violence later in life. More individuals who reported
experiencing spousal violence reported having been physically and/or
sexually abused as children (48%), compared to those who did not report
spousal violence (32%).

A history of family violence in the childhood
home was notable among those who reported being the victim of spousal
violence as adults. Over one in five (21%) spousal violence victims
reported having witnessed abuse committed by a parent, step-parent or
guardian as a child. This proportion is significantly higher than the
11% of respondents in spousal relationships free of violence who had
witnessed violence as children.

Data from the 2014 GSS
show that individuals self-identifying as Aboriginal were more than
twice as likely as non-Aboriginal people to report experiencing spousal
violence in the previous five years (9% versus 4%,
respectively). In particular, Aboriginal females were more likely to be
victimized by current or former partners, as compared to
non-Aboriginal women. Rates of self-reported spousal victimization
among the Aboriginal population have not changed in a significant way
from 2009 (10%) to 2014 (9%).

Aboriginal people more often reported having
experienced abuse as children, a factor shown to be associated with
spousal victimization later in life. People identifying as Aboriginal
were also more likely than non-Aboriginals to report having witnessed
violence committed by a parent, step-parent or guardian as a child.

CAIJ, the Centre d'accès à l'information juridique (the network of courthouse law
libraries associated with the Québec Bar Association), has recently added an annotated version of the province's new Code of Civil Procedure(in the left column of the page "Code de procédure civile (nouveau)").
It includes the text of the Code, a list of changes in legal terminology, a concordance between the new and old Codes, background commentaries for each section from the provincial Ministry of Justice, links to related regulations, links to related research questions answered by the CAIJ libraries, as well as links to debates in the Québec National Assembly and positions adopted by the Québec Bar Association.

CAIJ won the 2012 Hugh Lawford Award for Excellence in Legal Publishing for its JuriBistro UNIK global search engine. It simultaneously searches Québec Bar association continuing education
materials, the CAIJ catalogue, the full text of Québec and federal caselaw
and legislation, the full text of secondary literature from publisher Wilson
& Lafleur, the contents of legal journal indexes and the TOPO
knowledgebase of answers to research questions from member lawyers.

The Award is given out every year by the Canadian Association of Law Libraries.

The videos contain interviews of active and retired law librarians and
others related to the profession. This series showcases individuals in
the profession as they discuss and reflect on their experiences.

The Hein blog regularly features interviews from the series. The most recent blog item about the series presents Mary Kathleen Price, Professor of Law Emerita and retired Associate Dean, Library and Technology from the University of Florida in Gainsville, FL.

Le Devoir Feature Article on Growing Problem of Vexatious Litigants

They are highly aggressive and/or abusive citizens who take their grievances to an extreme, inundating courts and tribunals with numerous detailed complaints and multiplying procedures, and often abusing staff with threatening language.

According to the article, it is a phenomenon that is worrying bar associations, public institutions, courts, ombudsman offices as well as the psychiatric profession.

The article refers to a practice guide written in 2012 by the Office of the Ombudsman of New South Wales in Australia on Managing unreasonable complainant conduct.The guide has been widely translated and used to train others around the world.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Roberta I. Shaffer Named Law Librarian of Congress

"She is a former Fulbright Senior Scholar. She has been an active member of the American Bar Association, the American Association of Law Libraries, ARMA International (Records Management) and the World Future Society. She was president of the International Council of Scientific and Technical Information, served as the Library’s official representative to the council, and chaired its Information Policy Committee. Shaffer held advisory positions with the DigIn Program at the University of Arizona and the library science program at San Jose State University. She serves in an advisory capacity for the Information School at the University of Texas (Austin), where she previously served as dean."

Shaffer had been the acting Law Librarian of Congress since October 2015.

The Law Library of Congress is the world’s largest law library, with a collection of over 2.65 million
volumes spanning the ages and covering virtually every jurisdiction in
the world.

Manitoba Law Reform Commission Report on Modernizing The Municipal Council Conflict of Interest Act

"This report will provide an overview of the municipal conflict of interest legislative regime in Manitoba and other jurisdictions and will canvass case law and judicial inquiry reports as they relate to sanctions and enforcement of municipal conflict of interest, before making recommendations for the improvement of remedial provisions and enforcement of the MCCIA [Municipal Council Conflict of Interest Act]. Other issues, such as the enforcement of municipal codes of conduct and the provincial Conflict of Interest Commissioner will also be discussed."

"The Commission recommends that the remedial provisions of the Act be amended so that judges are provided with a range of available sanctions to impose when they are satisfied that there has been a breach of the conflict of interest provisions of the MCCIA, rather than only having recourse to the current all or nothing approach, in which the only penalty available is disqualification from office and a declaration that a councillor’s seat is vacant:"

"In addition to recommending changes to the remedial provisions of the MCCIA, the Commission also recommends the establishment of a municipal Conflict of Interest Commissioner, who would carry out an advisory, investigatory, and enforcement function. The Commissioner would provide binding advice to members of council, so that a councillor, if he or she provided all material facts to the Commissioner and followed the Commissioner’s recommendations, would be rendered immune from subsequent proceedings under the Act. The Commissioner would also be empowered to receive complaints from members of the public and be authorized to conduct investigations."

January 2016 Issue of Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World

The Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World newsletter,
published by Library and Archives Canada (LAC), highlights issues
pertaining to government and recordkeeping practices in the public and
private sectors around the world.

The report is one of the elements of a major project to look at how decisions related to property, treatment and personal care are made
in situations where individuals’ decision-making abilities are in impaired, but decisions must nonetheless be made.

Law Commission of England Final Report on Unfitness to Plead

The Law Commission of England and Wales has published a report on unfitness to plead that looks at the legal tests and rules for determining whether an accused is physically and/or metnally fit to plead [links to consultation documents and to the final report at the bottom of the page]:

"Our starting point is that full and fair trial should be achieved
wherever possible. We make recommendations to ensure that the normal
trial process is adjusted wherever necessary to ensure that defendants
can be tried in the normal way when that can fairly be achieved."

"In order to reduce unnecessary costs and delays, our recommendations
also include the streamlining of the clinical assessment process for
defendants with participation difficulties."

"We recommend a new legal test which will accurately identify those
who are unable to participate effectively in their trial. Under our
recommendations these defendants who lack capacity for trial will be
dealt with in a reformed alternative hearing where all aspects of the
allegation will be fairly scrutinised."

"Under our reforms the judge will have more robust and effective
options for dealing with defendants who lack capacity for trial. The
court will be able to provide for more constructive support of the
individual within the community, as well as having greater powers to
monitor the progress of the individual under supervision and to impose
restrictions where that is necessary to ensure public safety."

"Significant concerns have been raised during the project about the
current lack of an effective legal framework for addressing
participation difficulties experienced by young defendants in the youth
court. Our recommendations also introduce, for the first time, a
statutory scheme for addressing unfitness to plead in the magistrates’
and youth courts, in line with that which we recommend for the Crown
Court."

The blog On Firmer Ground yesterday published a piece called Contemplating a Name Change that looks at how law librarianship has changed and asks whether those changes warrant changing the name of the association:

"These AALL advocates have called for the association’s members to look forward, to adapt, and to be proactive in addressing the challenges facing the legal information profession. Law librarians answered that call by shapeshifting into knowledge managers, competitive intelligence professionals, information specialists, and research analysts, among other roles. However, many of us maintain that, despite new titles and new roles, we are still essentially librarians, putting valuable and timeless librarian skills to good use organizing, finding, and disseminating information, regardless of format."

"Have we finally reached the tipping point though? In the face of all the changes, does the librarian name still properly convey all that we contribute to our organizations, and all the roles that our positions encompass? Or are the cumulative changes to our profession so great that a new, broader name for our association is warranted? Well-informed, reasonable minds will differ on this point, and American Association of Law Libraries members will have a chance to vote on a proposed name change beginning tomorrow, January 12, 2016."

"As we mull over whether Association for Legal Information appropriately represents our soon-to-be 110-year-old association and its members, we thought it would be worth reviewing some of the myriad reflections on our ever-changing profession and professional environment."

On Firmer Ground is a blog by and for law firm librarians. It is a joint project of the Legal Division of the Special Libraries Association, the Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries, the Canadian Association of Law Libraries and the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians.

Quebec's New Code of Civil Procedure in Force Since January 1st

"The new Code of Civil Procedure is intended to make the civil justice
system more accessible, while protecting the rights of all parties to
state their claims before a court.
To reduce delays in the justice system, the new Code gives
priority to amicable dispute resolution processes such as mediation,
arbitration and conciliation, which are less confrontational, more
accessible and more likely to ensure a quick outcome."

"Parties that opt for a traditional trial in court must ensure
that all their applications, pleadings and evidence are proportionate to
the nature and complexity of the case, in order to prevent abuses of
procedure."

"Judges will have greater powers to manage cases, in particular
to ensure compliance with the principles of proportionality and
cooperation at the heart of the new Code of Civil Procedure. For
example, they will be able to reduce the number of examinations and
expert opinions required; both these elements have often been identified
as causing significant costs or delays for citizens."

Call for Nominations for Denis Marshall Memorial Award for Excellence in Law Librarianship

"This award is an honour bestowed upon a current member of CALL/ACBD who
has provided outstanding service to the Association AND/OR enhanced the
profession of law librarianship in the recent past. The specific
contributions must reflect the qualities embodied by Denis Marshall:

a continued commitment to excellence in law librarianship;

a strong service ethic;

a commitment to continuous learning;

a significant contribution to the scholarship of the library profession;

mentoring and encouraging those who seek a profession in law librarianship;

the pursuit of innovation and/or innovative solutions;

and/or a contribution to leadership in the law library profession."

The name of the nominated person must be accompanied by two signed letters from colleagues in support of the nominee, with names and signatures of three additional CALL members supporting the nomination.

This is a confidential process, so the nominee should not be made aware that he or she is being nominated.

The CALL Scholarships and Awards Committee will begin to consider applications after April 1.

Legal Sourcery Named Best Canadian Law Library Blog

"Few categories prompt so many nominations from our readers as Best Law Library Blog, and no blog receives so many or such enthusiastic nominations as Legal Sourcery. The blog of the Law Society of Saskatchewan consistently generates engaging and informative posts about legal developments, regulatory changes, research trends, and just plain fun observations and contests. Ken Fox, Melanie Hodges Neufeld, Alan Kilpatrick, Kelly Laycock and Sarah Roussel-Lewis lead the way."

Canadian Library Association Special Meeting in January to Vote on New Library Federation

For many months, the Canadian Library Association (CLA) has been meeting with representatives from other regional and sectoral library
associations such as the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) to discuss the CLA's dissolution and its replacement by a
new national structure that would take the form of a federation of library associations.

The CLA website has links to the meeting's agenda, the proposal for the creation of a new federation of library associations, financial statements and the special resolution to dissolve the CLA.

Small associations like CALL would likely be invited to become a member of the new federation but it is still unclear how any new governance structure would accommodate smaller entities in terms of membership fees and voting weight.

Monday, January 04, 2016

Canadian Librarians Track Down Fugitive Federal Government Documents

So-called fugitive Canadian federal government documents are documents that are available in print or on a website but that are not collected by an official depository program such as the federal Depository Services Program that maintains the Government of Canada Publications catalogue.

A few years ago, staff at 11 Canadian libraries launched the Canadian Government Information Digital Preservation Network (CGI DPN), an initiative dedicated to preserving digital collections of government information.

In 2014, the Network created the Fugitive Documents Working Group to develop strategies to collect fugitive documents.

Recently, the Working Group announced on various listservs that Public Works Canada has agreed to collaborate with the project by picking up the items directly from the Spreadsheet for addition to the Depository Services catalogue.

The Working Group is still looking for volunteers to help with the project. Anyone interested in participating can contact:

Susan Paterson - susan.paterson AT ubc.ca (University of British Columbia)

Disclaimer

Neither the content nor the views contained in this blog represent the positions of my employer or of any association to which I belong. Any links to a news article, an academic study or another blog post should not be considered to indicate any form of endorsement on my part or on that of my institution. This is a purely personal blog for the purposes of sharing information about library issues and legal research.